Treat the cylinder as infinitely long, with a vacuum exterior and no surface tension. Let be its gravitational potential. Integrating the gravitational Poisson equation over a coaxial cylinder of radius and length , then applying the divergence theorem, gives
Thus the inward gravitational acceleration is . Hydrostatic equilibrium requires
Impose zero pressure on the free surface, , and integrate inward:
This is the hydrostatic self-gravitating incompressible cylinder. Its central pressure is , and the units of the expression are . A nonzero external pressure would add that constant to .